


Singing For Supper

by blythechild



Category: V for Vendetta (2005)
Genre: Explosions, Gen, Terrorism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-08
Updated: 2012-04-08
Packaged: 2017-11-03 06:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/378205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspector Dominic Stone gets a front row seat for V's latest revolutionary act.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Singing For Supper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fuguestate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuguestate/gifts).



> This drabble is a gift to wednesday42 based on her prompts.
> 
> No warnings apply. This is fanfiction and as such I do not claim ownership over the characters herein. It was created as a personal entertainment.

It was a hell of a place to end up - literally. Bound to a chair in some damp, forgotten corner of the abandoned London underground, it was an eccentric death at best, ignominious at worst. But that was the style of the man in the black cape and hat who was currently fussing over a jury-rigged detonator and a mess of wires that branched out in every conceivable direction.

“Hmmm, almost done…” The masked man purred.

“Listen mate,” Dominic began. “I heard your BTV message - I _agree_ with you. We’ve gone wrong somehow but this isn’t the way to solve it.”

The man in the mask ignored him and continued tinkering and mumbling to himself. Dominic might as well have been invisible. 

“Blowing up buildings? Hurting people?”

The man rounded on Dominic so quickly that it was almost impossible to see. His mask ended up within inches of the other man’s face, the brim of his strange hat brushing Dominic’s head.

“No one has died who did not richly deserve their end. I am an instrument of justice, Inspector Stone, not a vigilante. No one died at the Old Bailey and no one will die here tonight. These ‘crimes’ are symbols meant to enervate the people out of their accepting stupor.”

The masked man placed his gloved hand over Dominic’s face. “I am their hand.”

Dominic breathed in quickly. Being both tied up and temporarily blinded was more than his policeman’s training had prepared him for.

“What about me? I’m going to die tonight and I never did anything to you!”

Dominic felt the cool smoothness of the mask graze his cheek. “You’re trying to stop me.”

And as quickly as he had turned on him, the dark man turned back to his elaborate mechanism of destruction. Dominic huffed out small bursts of air to prevent himself from launching into a full-scale panic attack. His hands and ankles were starting to go numb from the metal restraints.

“There!” The masked man exclaimed with the delight of a child. “All done. Time to begin…”

He picked up the detonator and slowly pressed the trigger with an odd sort of reverence. Dominic closed his eyes and waited for the end.

 

Nothing happened.

 

He opened one eye and saw the masked man press the detonator a second time. Again, nothing happened. The mask tilted to one side in a question, his hand stroking his false chin. 

“Is it supposed to do that?” Dominic couldn’t help himself. “Did you check the batteries?” 

The mask turned towards him, and though it was impossible, Dominic was certain that the immovable face was giving him a dirty look.

“Well, its just that we’ve noticed that most of your equipment is homemade cobbled together from pre-Reclamation era stock.” Dominic nodded towards the detonator. “If you’re using alkaline batteries, they might be over 20 years old. They have a shelf life, you know.”

The masked man crossed his arms over his chest. Dominic’s mind scrambled to come up with something else.

“Have you tried licking the ends?”

The mask didn’t move.

“T-the saliva gives them an extra kick of conductivity s-sometimes…”

The mask tilted again and considered the detonator. He unscrewed the base and slid two batteries out into his gloves. He raised the power sources to his face as if to examine them, then turned towards Dominic and held them out towards him. Dominic looked puzzled but the man pushed the batteries closer to his mouth.

“Oh… umm… sure, I can see where that would a problem for you…”

Dominic obliged and licked the battery caps, and then the ends when the masked man rotated them. It took a few tries; his mouth was suddenly quite dry. The gloves swallowed up the small cylinders and then re-inserted them into the detonator. He waited a moment and then pressed the trigger a third time. The tunnel shook violently around them releasing a cloud of choking dust. Several subsequent booms sounded above them at different distances. The masked man chuckled loudly.

“Thank you, Inspector Stone - a victorious vindication for our valiant labors tonight!” He raised his gloved hands into the dusty air of the tunnel and clenched them in triumph. Rats fleeing from further down the tunnel ran over his immaculate boots. “And you played your part, Dominic - that deserves a reward: you will not die tonight!”

His cape swirled as he turned and ran past Dominic still trapped in his chair.

“Wait! What do you mean? Don’t leave me here! You said that I wouldn’t die tonight!”

“You won’t.” His voice echoed as if he was already a great distance away. “My charges were on a timer. That detonator was a decoy - I was just interested to see if you would help me, if you truly _believed_ in my cause. There comes a time in everyone’s life, Dominic, when they have to make a choice between what they ought to do and what they believe in. Tonight you proved yourself.”

Footfalls echoed behind him, growing fainter and fainter with every passing second. Dominic struggled against the metal restraints cutting into the flesh at his wrists and ankles. He yelled in frustration until he grew hoarse.

“You said I wouldn’t die tonight!” He bellowed into the collapsing tunnel.

Something beeped. Metal clicks sounded against the chair as his bonds snapped open. Dominic looked down to see himself free. He closed his eyes for s second, _timers_. He didn’t waste any more time thinking about it but instead ran down the tunnel towards the sound of emergency sirens.


End file.
